Half-Life 3 is itself a meme and has been since Half-Life 2: Episode Two debuted all the way back in 2007. Fans have clamoured, speculated, and pleaded for the follow-up for almost a decade and a half. And with the release (and ending) of Half-Life: Alyx back in March 2020, it seemed that we were finally getting a little closer to Half-Life 3.
Well, a reputable Valve insider has come out to confirm that isn't quite the case. According to Tyler McVicker of Valve News Network, Half-Life 3 isn't in major development at Valve as the company is focusing their efforts on the Steam Deck.
"To get the big question out of the way, is there a true follow-up to Half-Life 2: Episode Two in development in any capacity at Valve Software?” McVicker proposes before promptly giving a definitive answer. “The issue is that no, at the current time, there isn’t a major development team working on anything outside of the few pieces of software that are specifically tailored for hardware right now."
McVicker explains that Valve is insistent that the Steam Deck is where their attention should be. “Valve is trying to get the Steam Deck out and, like many people have observed, the Steam Deck has been significantly more successful than originally anticipated, so Valve is throwing a lot at it."
"Half-Life 3, Half-Life 2 Episode 3, any kind of traditional mouse and keyboard FPS at Valve is not taking place, [and] if it its, it’s a very small group of people and those individuals will not be seen as value generating by the higher-ups."
For the Steam Deck, Valve is developing something called "Citadel" which is more fit for the handheld device on account of its mechanics. "Valve is working on a piece of software to best showcase what the Steam Deck is capable of doing – Citadel," McVicker explained.
So, a shame to be sure but not one that anticipating fans of Half-Life won't already be used to by now.